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Forum:Dead Space Story Unoriginal and Full of Holes?
So I was reading this blog article about a fellow gamers pro's and con's of Dead Space. So I get that Dead Space has a lot of inspiration from previous science fiction and horror franchises before it. Though since I was younger when the likes of Event Horizon or the first two System Shock games came out, Dead Space seemed pretty great to me, having a lot of subtext to go along with the slash and frag action. This was despite reusing tropes and plot elements from the Aliens franchise, 2001 a Space Odyssey and not to mention games like Halo or Mass Effect. Yet while the game is undeniably a success as a game, I really liked the story despite it's "unoriginality". Do you guys think the storyline of Dead Space and Dead Space 2 was the weakest point of the games? I admit Visceral could have explained things better like the whole Unitology thing and the exact reason you want to return the Marker to Aegis VII. Here is the address of the blog article: http://hangmen13.16ops.com/?p=4278 Also on a related point it never occurred to me before but said blog author is on to something about the Ishimura's crew being complete red shirts. How does a lone repairman like Isaac Clarke manage to survive his ordeal in the first game but both an entire colony and the thousand plus crew of the Ishimura could not despite having access to nearly all the same tools/weapons and first aid kits Clarke did. True there was the sabotage the ship suffered by Dr. Kyne and the treason of Dr. Mercer not to mention the surprise, terror and confusion caused by the necromorphs themselves. Another issue would have been the crazy inducing signal emanating from the red marker but the same sentient structure also tried to help Isaac stop the necromorphs. So you would think the marker would have informed and done more for some of the crew members on the ship. Surely someone would have put two and two together and try to return the marker to it's pedestal or something before Kyne asks Isaac for help. Maphisto86 17:50, November 14, 2011 (UTC) :As Cortana once said, "Not a very ''original plan, but we know it'll work."''. I think the Dead Space franchise was never intended to be popular; there were plans to extend the franchise (i.e. Dead Space comic) assuming that it did but I think the developers never thought reusing used/old concepts would work. It simply took off because of its presentation/visual features; the lack of proper HUD and use of third-person rather than first-person (i.e. you can see your character rather than looking through his vision) allows players to immerse themselves greatly, and the fact that it's a horror game adds a bonus point to that. Emphasis added. No other games manage to pull that properly. When presentation makes a game popular, storyline is more of a secondary. :The storyline of Dead Space universe is interesting if one actually spends time reading the logs and articles left behind by the victims. The backstory is interesting... but not really original; you can pretty much guess what inspired the backstory. If one never reads them, then the storyline is fairly simple and very unoriginal. :On the point of why Isaac could do it but none other can't; plot device to make the game work and make the character stand out more. We even have several exceptional individuals in the real world. :)— subtank (7alk) 00:16, November 15, 2011 (UTC) And not to mention that it's possible - quite likely, in fact - that Isaac may spend just as much time running (no doubt screaming "oh shit why didn't I buy more ammo!?") as he will spend violently stomping on things and swearing as he does so. It would seem that it's mostly just a case of Gameplay and Story Segregation; it's quite impossible for a game to account entirely for your play-style, so they just assume you play the game the same way the developers intended it be played - as a survival horror game, i.e. being scared, low on ammo and killing things in the most inefficient and brutal ways possible. Thus, it isn't entirely impossible to survive things like that, hence why it's a common strategy for many survivors of equally terrifying real-life disasters in similar situations Isaac finds himself in often. Captain tweed 20:46, November 15, 2011 (UTC) I agree with subtank. It's one of those stories where you have to bring yourself to it. Sure it has a lot of contributions from other well-known works, but there hasn't really been an original thought since 1995. Eventually you have to blend good things into better things because there just isn't anything original left. Not to say there aren't unexploited sci-fi ideas, but at this point they have to be waaaaay out there to be original. As for Dead Space, I really like the story. The cult idea isn't original, but Dead Space does one of the best jobs in modern media to really give that cult-y, "this is really F'd up" feeling. And the studio keeps expanding on it and making it even more surreal with works like Dead Space: Martyr. That's really the cornerpiece keeping the necromorphs from being passed off as Flood ripoffs. --LBCCCP 13:53, November 16, 2011 (UTC) I figured you would all be supportive of Dead Space's story and I agree I too enjoy it, despite it's similarity to other space based horror books, films and games. Still weird how the Ishimura crew were not able to resist the necromorphs with so much lethal tools, weapons and first aid around. ; ) Maphisto86 03:44, November 19, 2011 (UTC) All great ideas had some kind of outer influence, and just about everything has unoriginal story elements. Dead space is one of many titles to use the same story over and over again. It has been done for a long time. Every viseo game has the same plot idea, 1 guy who can stop a world-ending threat. They do it in mass effect, call of duty, prototype. It is technically the same story over and over again, they just put it in a new situation.